A family tradition that my maternal Grandfather shared with me. Made possible by the wild cherry laurels that are planted by birds every year, and a delicious Carnival experience. Happy Mardi Gras Pa-Pa!

2.25.2011

Nice link with a great drawing of the trackshttp://dinets.travel.ru/blackjaguar.htm
This one is definitely well fed compared to the one that was in my yard
and it has obvious spots, which the one in my yard did not have.
But the tracks are very similar.

I did not get a photo of it- but my neighbors, Mr. Davis and his wife up the hill got it on video.
They were interviewed on NOLA.com
He has security cameras all over his property on poles.http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2011/02/video_black_panther_caught_on.html
I called her immediately to confirm and also to say thank you!
I was so grateful that someone had captured it on video!
My husband started to believe me, but was still unsure.
It sounded like a really loud cat was in the yard late one night that week too.

In the first week of February, I heard the geese outside around the North Porch making a racket. I needed to take out the garbage, so I put my shoes on and went to see what it was all about.
I walked out and saw a black cat out of my eye and thought- another mouth to feed!
Then Lakeview, one of our cats came towards me and I realized that the scale was very wrong. He was small and the Black cat was HUGE! It was much larger than our Lab-Mix Dog!
I looked again more carefully and saw at least a 100 lb black cat staring at my geese.
Not me, my geese.
I dropped the garbage and yelled- "Shoo! Git!" and it did nothing.
I picked up a piece of corrugated sheet metal that was by the well pump near the porch and shook it at the cat-making a bigger noise,
"Go on!" Shoo!" again- and it got very low to the ground and crept into the bushes by the well, but did not go far and it looked at me this time.
I shook the metal and yelled again- this time it went farther and faster into the woods by the blueberries.

I quickly went back inside and called my husband who said.
Oh it's just a big tom cat. I was not so sure.

I found tracks in the mud, and alerted my neighbors with small children, grandchildren and horses, etc., and told my students when I went to work.

I called it into the Wild Life and Fisheries agents and they said- take a picture. Easier said than done.